whoa! we all know what happened to slutskaya though. let's not wish that on her. the only thing that could put a major damp on her efforts now though, is her back. hopefully it won't let her down this season. sometimes towards the end of the season, she'll get tight and miss some jumps at the tail end of her long.... like last year at the GPFs and worlds. i don't think it's stamina so much as her back situation...even though she and orser won't admit this. but she does say she feels better going into this season than last year's. so maybe it'll bode well throughout.

i guess it was a good idea that sasha backed out. unless she's 100%, she won't want to face yuna. sasha also really needs a strong debut to send a message. i think not facing yuna until the olympics will be positive.

don't know what's going on with mao. i hope she gets it "fixed" soon for her mental state and gaining more confidence in her programs.

i guess it was a good idea that sasha backed out. unless she's 100%, she won't want to face yuna. sasha also really needs a strong debut to send a message. i think not facing yuna until the olympics will be positive.

Yu-Na is due to compete at SA, so unless Sasha skips that too, she will have to face her before Olys.

Yu-Na is due to compete at SA, so unless Sasha skips that too, she will have to face her before Olys.

really? didn't read up well on who's going where in the series. wow, let's just hope she knows how kim did today, lol. i'm wondering now if her camp is considering another pull-out option? should be interesting to see what happens in a month. i wish, though, that she was assigned another place as i don't think it's good mentally to potentially lose by so great a margin if you're hoping to be competitive against yuna at the olympics. what do you think?

i'm wondering why sasha was assigned to the 2 exact same competitions as yuna? coincidence?

Yu-Na is due to compete at SA, so unless Sasha skips that too, she will have to face her before Olys.

Yes, I was just going to say that.

But it also depends on what Cohen wants. If, and ONLY if, she wants gold, she has to worry about Yuna. If she just wants to "do [her] best" as she keeps claiming, and stay in the running for a medal (we know no Americans are even close anyway) then she need not worry about getting 80 points in the SP, and simply keep a level playing ground with the rest of the upper echelon of skaters.

But what is her level of commitment to this "comeback", anyway? I think she is just going to pull out of it altogether.

I'm a big fan of both Yuna and Mao, but if the SPs at the TEB are any indication of what we can expect for the rest of the season, I don't think Mao has a chance to beat Yuna in Vancouver unless Yuna brings out a real gun and starts shooting at the judges at the end of her Bond Girl performance.

Just finished watching Universal Sports coverage of the ladies.
My impressions are

YN Frankly I'm not completely sold on the idea of a Bond music in an Olympic year even after watching her tonight. I guess that's just me not being as open-minded as I should be, and I hope more of her fabulous performances will convince me otherwise.

However, her speed, ice coverage, control, and command of the ice are simply stunning!!!
She was just oozing confidence out there, and that coupled with the rock solid techniques will garner some significant number of points no matter what type of music she's skating to.

YUKARI I thought the leg wrap was much less noticeable! That was a big plus for me, because before, her wrap irked me so much that I didn't want to watch her skate altogether.

MAO Well, wrong dress, wrong dress, wrong dress.
Oh and that botched 3A, too.
Like others have stated numerous times already in this thread, I really hope she fixes whatever it is that is bothering her.

But out of that group gunning for the silver, she's the only one who made a glaring mistake, right? So if she skates clean, she still has the potential to derail YN Express.

ALEXE & CARO-Z I didn't know that Alexe was already 17! I was expecting to see another 12-year-old, so I was caught off guard by her maturity!
What a great senior debut.

And Caroline was, as Peter Carruthers (it was him, right?) kept repeating, SO SLOW. I hope she hasn't hit the wall or something.
But she did look a lot more grown up.

CARO-K Unfortunate falls, but.........
Was that a nipple I saw at the end of her program???

i'm wondering why sasha was assigned to the 2 exact same competitions as yuna? coincidence?

I don't think Sasha was assigned since (I may be wrong but someone correct me please) she hasn't competed since 2006 Worlds and is not part of the pool of ranked skaters who can be assigned. Since USFSA hosts SA, they are welcome to invite one American skater of choice. I think it was the French Federation who invited Sasha to compete in Paris. It was just coincidence Yu-Na was assigned to the same events Sasha was invited to compete in.

I'm a big fan of both Yuna and Mao, but if the SPs at the TEB are any indication of what we can expect for the rest of the season, I don't think Mao has a chance to beat Yuna in Vancouver unless Yuna brings out a real gun and starts shooting at the judges at the end of her Bond Girl performance.

ROTFLMAO!!!!! Of course, if she only shoots one, the rest might give her tens across the board in PCS out of fear.

I'm a big fan of both Yuna and Mao, but if the SPs at the TEB are any indication of what we can expect for the rest of the season, I don't think Mao has a chance to beat Yuna in Vancouver unless Yuna brings out a real gun and starts shooting at the judges at the end of her Bond Girl performance.